recourse

American  

[ree-kawrs, -kohrs, ri-kawrs, -kohrs] / ˈri kɔrs, -koʊrs, rɪˈkɔrs, -ˈkoʊrs /

noun

• recourses
  plural

1. access or resort to a person or thing for help or protection.

   to have recourse to the courts for justice.

2. a person or thing resorted to for help or protection.

3. the right to collect from a maker or endorser of a negotiable instrument. The endorser may add the words “without recourse” on the instrument, thereby transferring the instrument without assuming any liability.

---

recourse British  

/ rɪˈkɔːs /

noun

1. the act of resorting to a person, course of action, etc, in difficulty or danger (esp in the phrase have recourse to )

2. a person, organization, or course of action that is turned to for help, protection, etc

3. the right to demand payment, esp from the drawer or endorser of a bill of exchange or other negotiable instrument when the person accepting it fails to pay

4. a qualified endorsement on such a negotiable instrument, by which the endorser protects himself or herself from liability to subsequent holders

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• recourses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of recourse

1350–1400; Middle English recours < Old French < Late Latin recursus, Latin: return, retreat, noun use of past participle of recurrere to run back; see recur

Explanation

Recourse is a source of help. If you're failing trigonometry in spite of studying until your brain hurts, you may have no recourse but to hire a tutor. Recourse comes from the Latin word recursus, meaning “to run back or retreat.” People seek recourse from such difficulties as debt, illness and legal woes, so you can think of recourse as the words "retreating from curses" squished together. For the record, though, the cursus in recursus means course, not curse. Actually, no one knows where the word curse comes from. There may be some connection between cursus and curses, but then again, there may not be.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recourse recourses

So do I have any recourse here, or should I just forget about it and move on with my life?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

If anything goes badly wrong, what recourse do I have against the fund manager—and where?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

These activists are trying every legal recourse and have set up a tiny camp at the edge of the property.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Another imponderable in the event of, say, a two-year ineligibility is recourse to the highest court of appeal, the Cour de Cassation.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Foxes, stoats, weasels—any of these might be encountered, and the only recourse would be flight above ground.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

"There is no doubt whatsoever that the bank will fight this case and use all recourses available to it," it said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025

“If they over-excavated, and if they’re not going to do anything about it, what are my recourses? I don’t know.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025

Still, it gave them none of the recourses available to whistleblowers at other federal law enforcement agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S.

From Washington Times ● May 30, 2023

There are few recourses against false lawsuits other than penalizing lawyers for filing them.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2021

Some of these recourses were promptly adopted in the newer settlements also; and others proved of little avail for the time being.

From American Negro Slavery A Survey of the Supply, Employment and Control of Negro Labor as Determined by the Plantation Regime by Ulrich Bonnell Phillips

Related Words

• remedy